live from london. this is bbc news. tear gas and stun grenades are used against demonstrators in los angeles, angry at donald trump's crackdown on undocumented immigrants. california's governor accuses president trump of trying to create a crisis by deploying the national guard. an australian correspondent covering those protests is shot with a rubber bullet. isreali forces seize control of a ship, carrying greta thunberg and other activists, who were trying to reach gaza, with a small quantity of aid. and we are in nice for a conference on ocean conservation where emmanuel macron took aim at donald trump and those who call climate change a hoax.

hello, i'm lucy hockings, welcome to bbc news now, breaking news from the uk. a major u-turn on one of the labour government's most significant decisions since coming to power. the treasury says nine million pensioners in england and wales will now receive winter fuel payments this winter. payments of at least £200 will be made to the majority of pensioners who earn less than £35,000 a year to help with their energy bills. pensioners will not need to take any action as they will automatically receive the payment later this year. the government says the change will cost around £1.25 billion. rachel reeves shortly and we will bring that to you when it happens.

but we begin this hour in los angeles where protests against immigration raids have continued for another night. city and state leaders have accused president trump of deliberately provoking chaos by calling in the national guard against the californian governor's wishes. the protests began after immigration officers started rounding up unauthorised migrants on friday. tensions remain high - vehicles have been set on fire, there's also been looting, as well as reports of heavy handedness by the police. authorities say downtown la is now an "unlawful assembly" area. our correspondent john sudworth reports from los angeles. gunfire. once again, downtown los angeles echoed to the sound of tear gas and rubber bullets. at one point, protesters surged on to one of the city's busiest highways before the police eventually cleared the road. these were scenes that were repeated throughout the day. over the past few minutes, you can probably see the guy with the green gun there. he's been firing rubber bullets at the direction of the crowd, and it shows you just how volatile the situation is. this, though, is what's turned the localised protests into a major story.

president trump's protocol-busting decision to send in the national guard against the wishes of the state governor and the city's mayor. deploying federalised troops is a dangerous escalation, but we need to be real about this. this is about another agenda. it's not about public safety. there's clearly no plan, and there is clearly no policy. mr trump, though, insists the national guard are needed to keep the peace. i mean, if we see danger to our country and to our citizens, we'll be very, very strong in terms of law and order. it's about law and order. this waymo self-driving car was set alight - another illustration of the sporadic violence. but the majority of protesters have been peaceful, many of them from the immigrant community themselves. there are some people that are working, not even for the minimum wage, but they have to work.

and what do you say when donald trump says, "i have a mandate. i was elected on the promise of deporting people." he's not the boss. only god. the government, though, insists that the immigration raids will continue, and la is bracing for more of this. john sudworth, bbc news, los angeles. meanwhile, around 60 people have been arrested in san francisco, after rallies late on sunday in protest of immigration raids. police in the northern california city "declared an unlawful assembly," with arrests including juveniles, according to their posts on their official x account. the protest in san francisco comes amid demonstrations in downtown los angeles. the unrest has been triggered by immigration raids that have resulted in dozens of arrests of what authorities say are illegal migrants and gang members. we've been hearing from people representing the latino community in other parts of the us. juan proano is the ceo of the league of united latin american citizens based in miami. he gave his reaction to

the situation in los angeles. you know, it's very sad to see the current state of los angeles. but it's our belief that this was something that was planned and orchestrated by the trump administration. really, going into a sanctuary city with the militarisation of enforcement to really kind of attack, if you will, a peaceful city. immigrants who are hard-working immigrants, were not criminals, going into the garment factories, detaining over 200 immigrants in a federal building. it's unprecedented, we've never seen anything like that. obviously there is outrage in the community. but not all of the protesters are criminals. most of them, and as sitting today, are basically peaceful. i would like to point to the fact that paramount isn't los angeles proper. so you're actually calling in the federal reserve to los angeles when it's actually not part of paramount

which is in a completely different city separate from los angeles. it's an escalation and we've actually seen that. not just in la, we've seen it in arizona and texas as well, as part of their efforts to round up 3000 deportations per day. but what we're seeing is they don't really have the capacity to do this. detention centres are already full and overrun. they clearly have enough judges to actually take a look and review these cases and they are really escalating the pace at which these deportations are happening. what we found is those 200 immigrants being detained in a courthouse building where there were no beds come in medical resources, inadequate food and water. and within 24 to 48 hours, some of those detainees were already moved to texas for deportation as well.

some journalists covering the demonstrations say they've been targeted by the police. the bbc has been given this clip of lauren tomasi who's a foreign correspondent for australia's channel nine news. ..moving them on through the heart of la. bang. bleep. you ok? i'm good, i'm good. are you ok? where did it hit you? just my leg. there is more on the bbc news website and we have a life page up and running on the la protests and the latest that is happening from there. you can find out what is happening in 200 words from a correspondent on the scene, just to catch up with developments and also the details on the national guard deployment. this is something we'll be talking about later in the programme, who are the

national guard and what is their mandate in california and the political elements as well. this is only the second time the national guard has been deployed without the governor's express approval and will be talking about the political implications between gavin newsom and president trump and the animosity between them so do stay with us for that. breaking news from the uk. the government announcing a u-turn on the winter fuel payments. around 9 million people will receive the payment and let's speak to henry zeffman. this is a big u-turn from the government, can you give us the background first. yes, really significant u-turn that has happened in slow motion. the background is the means testing of the winter fuel allowance which was previously received by all pensioners was practically one of the first policies announced by the government after it took office

in july last year. and the government said it was a response to an economic situation they inherited from the conservatives which was even worse than they had been led to believe. but almost instantly, the decision to means test the winter fuel allowance and specifically the threshold they applied which meant the vast majority of pensioners no longer received it in the winter was very controversial. the government got a lot of political heat for it, especially in a set of local elections around england at the start of last month was blamed for the labour party not doing very well. in the aftermath sir keir starmer said that more pensioners would receive the winter fuel allowance in future. he then clarified last week that that would take effect this winter and are finally today we are getting clarity on which pensioners will now receive the winter fuel allowance this winter. give us the detail and what we actually know about who will receive it and when. it effects pensioners, well, all

pensioners. actually, the funny thing is that every pensioner is going to receive the winter fuel allowance this winter but some pensioners will have the benefit essentially clawed back through the tax system over subsequent months. those pensioners who will receive winter fuel allowance and get to keep it are those pensioners who have an income annually of £35,000 or less. as he was saying, that is expected to be a total of 9 million pensioners, that's the vast majority of pensioners in england and wales which is the bits of the uk that this policy affects. we think there will be about 2 million pensioners who have a higher income than £35,000 and therefore will have their winter fuel allowance removed through the tax system after initially receiving it. i'm looking at our life page on this and chris mason says, the final act in this slow motion

u-turn has played out and it really does feel like that. that this has been happening very slowly, so much damage done to the government for months now. what is your assessment of that and whether this has just happen too late now in terms of the u-turn and repairing the damage? that's the key political question. yes, this is the final act of the u-turn. we now know what the government policy will be going forwards. i don't think we are anywhere near the final act in political terms. it clearly damage the labour party in a big way at the one national electoral test they've faced since they were swept into office on a landslide victory less than a year ago. but will it continue to damage the labour party in future elections right up to the next general election which is four years away? that is the subject of a lively strategic debate within the labour party because some people said that the

damage was done, the public will not forget, they might ultimately weigh it against other things but the damage was done. that clearly the argument which prevailed in the strategic discussions in labour party about what to do with this policy and whether to u-turn, the argument that prevailed was actually if you just say this was one difficult winter, a decision that had to be made because of the economic circumstances but now you are changing, listening to the public and adjusting it, the hope at the top of government is that come this winter and next winter and the winter after that, the initial decision will come to fade from people's memories. in terms of public anger, some labour mps are saying that this could be what damaged them in those local elections we saw in may. yes, i think, actually, i can't think of any labour mp who has said otherwise to me including those who supported the initial decision to means test the winter fuel allowance and only give it to pensioners who receive pension credit. it has,

i think you can't understate the impact of this decision in terms of how many of these political debates in westminster are playing out. it wasn't just one of the first decisions made by this government, it was one of the first decisions made by rachel reeves the chancellor. and it's led to a lot of labour mps questioning not necessarily her economic judgment but her political judgment. that was something that was pretty unchallenged in her years in opposition as shadow chancellor, she was a very popular figure in labour. but there are lots of labour mps, including many of those who would naturally be on the same wing of the labour party as her, the right of the labour party, who have come to really question whether enough political thought went into this decision before it was announced. henry, thank you so much and there is a full statement from the chancellor rachel reeves on the bbc news website. we are expecting to

hear from her and once we have we will

high level talks between the us and china take place today here in london - as tensions between the two have frayed after president trump's tariffs. three of mr trump's top aides will meet a chinese delegation - including the vice premier he lifeng. it took a phone call between president xi and president trump last thursday to get the trade talks back on track, easing weeks of global market turmoil. one of president trump's top advisors said increased access to rare earth metals will be on the agenda. china is likely to push for greater access to sophisticated us computer chips, as our beijing correspondent stephen mcdonell explains.

these talks are being seen as an attempt by washington and beijing to get their trade negotiations back on track. now, remember how we got here? so, donald trump unleashed his trade chaos on the world. beijing didn't cave in the face of these tariffs. in fact, they placed tariffs on us goods. and so it's been donald trump who's actually had to back down. then they agreed on a 90 day truce in the trade war. the problem is during that truce period there have been throwing mud at one another. so donald trump asks for a call with xi jinping. they both get on the phone and they've agreed to these talks, which are taking place in london today. now, in the talks, what we expect is that they will be speaking about tech issues. now, why tech issues? because this is what they've been attacking one another about.

essentially, china wants better access to the software to make chips, because in the future it wants to be independent in this area. and the us has been blocking china's access to these chips. what the us wants from china is better access to its rare earths to be used in, say, vehicle manufacturing. now, over the weekend, in something of an olive branch, i guess, the chinese government announced that it's issued some new licences for rare earths to be provided to us car makers. now, this is a sign that, you know, it's symbolic. china is prepared to do something to move this process forward. but in terms of these talks, we are guessing really, we don't have an agenda. we don't have a list of things they will discuss. but the fact that these two very high powered negotiating teams from washington and beijing are sitting across the table from one another and having these talks, i think most analysts would say

that is at least a step in the right direction. let's speak to victor gao, vice president of the beijing-based think thank centre for china and globalisation. taking place in london today. because of the issue around rare earth metals, would you say that china feels it has the upper hand? first, china doesn't want to fight any trade war or tariff or with the us. our best hope is that rationality will come back to washington and trade can be resumed in the normal course of business. and free trade can be protected, not only for china but for the rest of the world. now, when you talk about the rare earths the government has declared, my personal reading is that china would be firmly opposed to the us using rare

earth to produce weapons which may be used by the us against china. so, this is something to do. now, in automobile making for example, that's another matter and china has already been listening about rare earth exports to the us. i hope that this will be prevailing, rare earths to be used for civilian purposes rather than military. president trump has suggested this issue around rare earth metals has been straightened out. do you think it actually has been? will the flow of the metals start again to the us, how fast will it happen? what about the volume of material that will be released to the us? as i mentioned, china has clearly defined civilian versus military use for rare earth to be supplied to the us. i don't

think china views it as much of a problem for civilian use but for military use, especially for weapons to be produced with rare earth materials, which the us and eventually used to attack china. i don't think anyone in china wants to supply the us with such rare earth for military use. so, i think there will be a distinction between civilian use and military use. and please keep in mind that china has increased the restriction on rare earth exports in the us is in itself a reaction to the so-called trade war launched by the united states denying access to the more sophisticated chips and other things. it is no longer a tariff issue at all. it is much more important relating to other things and i hope the us will have the rationality, not looking up

china as an enemy or adversary but looking at china on an equal terms. we can do business without harming each other. but if you want to really manhandle china, then china will have the wherewithal to get back at you. apparently the call between the two presidents went very well the other day. donald trump describing it as a very good talk. how is it being portrayed in china at the moment, the relationship between not just president xi and president trump between the two countries? well, the call was very important. it was requested again and again and again by the americans and the chinese president decided to take the call and the whole world and the market for example can't down significantly. so, it's a positive step in the right direction. however, we need to also understand that while i had the utmost respect for

president trump, the fact that his government has become very frivolous and arbitrary and capricious and unpredictable is really making doing business with the us almost impossible. i hope the united states government will really realise that to be feared is not the right way to make america great again. you really need to make yourself to be respected. and one way to respect the united states is that the united states to become highly reliable, rather than the other side. so i think between china and the us, while i have all the hope that the trade talks will end up with a positive result eventually, but i still hope washington will become highly predictable, reliable and not that capricious, arbitrary and frivolous. victor, thank you so much for joining us.

i was mentioning before we would bring you more on this big u-turn we've seen from the labour government in the uk on one of its most significant policy decisions. it's on the winter fuel payments for pensioners in england and wales. we've been getting statements through from the government on this but we've now just heard from the chancellor rachel reeves. from this winter, 9 million pensioners will now receive winter fuel payments. it will still be means tested but at a higher level. we listen to people's concerns around the level of the means test and because of the changes we've made on the stability we've brought back to the economy we will increase that amount. we will set out in the normal way in the budget how everything is funded. but no one should be in any doubt about my commitment to the fiscal rules to make sure that the sum always adult. rachel reeves here in the uk as well. sir keir starmer has

announced a programme to boost skills in ai. more than 7 million workers will receive ai training by 2030 and 1 million high school students will get tuition over the next three years. the prime minister said tech firms will provide high quality training materials free of charge. ai-related activity is already growing 30 times faster than the rest of the british economy, according to the government. speaking at a conference this morning, the pm acknowledged scepticism around ai and encouraged people to embrace it. ai and tech makes us more human. which sounds an odd thing to say, but it's true. and we need to say it because, look, some people out there are sceptical. they do worry about ai taking their job. this but i know for an audience like this, this is a debate that's been had perhaps many times, and we need to push past it. for people listening to us,

they worry about will it make their lives more complicated? and even for businesses who get it, the pace of change can feel relentless. and i know you all get that and understand that. but when it comes to harnessing the power of this technology, i believe that the way we work through this together is critical and that means a partnership. the ukrainian military says it's targeted a russian electronics factory 500km east of moscow. it said the plant manufactured navigation equipment used in drones and guided aerial bombs. russian media reported fire at the factory, managers said it had suspended production to protect its employees. ukraine has carried out several strikes this month against military facilities in russia, including missile bases and airfields. overnight, kyiv and other ukrainian cities came under attack from nearly 500 russian missiles and drones. stay with us here on bbc news.

will have more from the middle east coming up and will be live at the oceans

this is bbc news. the headlines: tear gas and stun grenades are used against demonstrators in los angeles. california's governor has accused president trump of trying to create a crisis by deploying the national guard. the winter fuel allowance will return for millions of pensioners here in the uk. every pensioner with an income of up to £35,000 will get the payment this year. the gm ocean conference has begun in the french city of nice. israeli forces seized control of a ship carrying greta thunberg and other activists are trying to